Simple And Fun Science Experiments For Kids

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Easy Science Experiments!

Children are filled with curiosity and eagerness to learn things new. They love to do fun and simple cool Science experiments.

This page contains some really cool Science experiments that are easy to do and they are both fun as well as educational for kids. Learn how the Sun shines, why two eyes are better than one, how to grow crystals, how to recycle paper, how your brain sorts things out, and much much more. Science facts and educational videos have been included to help your child out even more.

Encourage your child to go ahead and try these Science experiments out. I am sure they won't regret it! These experiments are not just limited for kids. If you are an enthusiastic adult with the curiosity of a child, I would encourage you to try them out as well.

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Fast And Easy Science Project Guides that can be finished in 24 hours. Experiment Based Projects That Are Parent And Teacher Tested And Approved!  

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Try Out The General Knowledge Quiz! 

It's Really Simple!

People usually forget what they learn at school! Even the easy to remember facts and info. Have you? Check out this simple general knowledge quiz and find out!

Trust me, it's really simple!

Cool Science Experiments 

More experiments for You or Your Kids To Try Out!



Experiments With Magnets

Fun Experiments - Create Simple Science Models

Make Your Own Electric Motor

How To Make A Telegraph

Build Your Own Crane




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Fun Science Facts! 

Updated As Often As Possible

- The largest telescope in the world is currently being constructed in northern Chile. The telescope will utilize four - 26 ft. 8 in. (8.13 meters) mirrors which will gather as much light as a single 52 ft. 6 in. (16 meters) mirror.

- The longest living cells in the body are brain cells which can live an entire lifetime.

- The Atlantic Giant Squid's eye can be as large as 15.75 inches (40 centimeters) wide.

- The most powerful laser in the world, the Nova laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA, generates a pulse of energy equal to 100,000,000,000,000 watts of power for .000000001 second to a target the size of a grain of sand.

- The deepest part of the ocean is 35,813 feet (10,916 meters) deep and occurs in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. At that depth the pressure is 18,000 pounds (9172 kilograms) per square inch.

Experiment Based On A Person's Taste 

Map Your Tongue

Your tongue is your main taste organ. You also use your tongue to chew and swallow your food. Your tongue is covered with tiny spots called taste buds. They allow you to notice the difference between the four tastes - sweet, salty, sour and bitter.

EXPERIMENT #1 - MAP YOUR TONGUE

There are four areas on your tongue which pick up different tastes. Find them by making a map of the tongue.

Things you will need:

1. Four sheets of paper
2. A pencil
3. Water
4. Sugar
5. Salt
6. Vinegar or lemon juice
7. Strong, black tea or coffee
8. Paper tissues
9. Four saucers
10. A glass, or plastic dropper, or a small teaspoon

Instructions:

1. First, label four of the sheets of paper as sweet, salty, sour and bitter.

2. In one saucer, dissolve some sugar in water. Place this saucer on the paper marked 'sweet'.

3. In another saucer, dissolve some salt in water. Place this on the paper market 'salty'.

4. In a third saucer, mix the vinegar or lemon juice with an equal amount of water. Put this on the paper market 'sour'.

5. Pour the tea into the last saucer. Place this on the paper marked 'bitter'.

6. Now you are ready to map your tongue! Ask your friend to stick their tongue out. Copy its outline on a sheet of paper.

7. Now divide the tongue up into four or more areas,as shown in the picture.

8. Dry your friend's tongue with a paper tissue and place a drop of 'sweet' on the tip of their tongue.

If he/she can taste the sweetness, mark that part of your map 'sweet'. Do the same for the other three liquids. Rinse with water after each tasting.

9. Now do the same for all the areas of the tongue, but test the liquids in a different order each time.

What does your tongue map show? Does each area of your tongue pick up a different taste?

Experiment Based On The Sense Of Smell 

Hold Your Nose

Smells are really chemicals floating about in the air. Your nose has special parts called receptors that respond to these smells. If the right chemical appears, a receptor sends a message along the nerves to your brain. Your brain decides whether smells are 'nice' or 'nasty'. As far as your nose can tell, they are just different kinds of chemical.

Smell is important to us because it helps our sense of taste. Your tongue can only pick up the four basic tastes - sweet, salty, sour and bitter. It's your nose that makes tomatoes taste like tomatoes and apples like apples. Without a sense of smell, they would not taste the same.

EXPERIMENT #2 - HOLD YOUR NOSE!

You can test the sense of smell by feeding different foods to a friend who is blindfolded and holding his or her nose. All the food should be cut into roughly the same size pieces.

Things you will need:

1. A knife
2. A scarf
3. Some food, such as apple, celery, melon, potato, carrot and onion

Instructions:

1. Cut up the food into pieces. Use the scarf to blindfold your friend and make sure your friend is holding their nose.

2. Now feed each of these foods in turn to your friend. Give the onion last, otherwise its strong taste might spoil the other tastes. Can your friend tell you what the different foods are?

3. Now ask your friend to try each food again, but hold another type of food under their nose at the same time. Does the smell make the taste different?

Experiments To Try With Respect To Your Senses 

More To Do

Some more related experiments
Check Your Senses
Your body does some amazing things, so why not put it into test?
Experiments and More Info On Five Sense
Know the five senses in detail plus some experiments to do.
Neuroscience for kids - The Senses
Some of the experiments require your child to be blindfolded. If your kid doesn't like to be blindfolded, have them cover their eyes with their hands.
Braincandy DVDs About the 5 Senses
Ideally, after watching the Braincandy overview and corresponding 5 senses DVDs, children will want to use their senses for similar experiments.

An Entertaining Read For Kids On Five Senses 

My Five Senses (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

My Five Senses (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

My Five Senses (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

by: Aliki

How do you learn what the world is like?

Through your five senses! Each sound and taste, each smell, sight, and touch helps you to discover something new. So find out more about your senses-what they are and what you can learn through them about the exciting world.The world awaits!

Customer Reviews

Andrea - "My 5 year old son absolutely adores this book. He asks me to read it repeatedly, and has fun pointing out when he's using his senses just like the (adorably illustrated) child in Aliki's book does. It's a lively, fun introduction to an important scientific concept."

Madeleine - "My 4.5 year old pre-kindergarten girls loved this book. It was a great compliment to the week they spent exploring the five senses at school. I can see using this book repeatedly for several years to come."

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Experiment Based On Skin 

Hot And Cold

Your skin is like a coat that protects your body. It keeps the rain and wind out. It also has many other jobs to do. In your skin, there are nerves that can sense pain, temperature and pressure. These nerves send messages to your brain and give you your sense of touch.

Touching gives you different kinds of sensation. Close your eyes and run your fingers over some objects around you. What sort of messages are your fingertips receiving?

EXPERIMENT #3 - HOT AND COLD

Does your body feel temperature changes as accurately as a thermometre? Find out by following this experiment.

Things you will need:

1. Hot and cold water
2. Three glass jars

Instructions:

1. Fill one jar with water that is hot, but not too hot to put your finger in. Fill the other jar with cold water, or iced water if available. In the third jar, make a mixture of the two.

2. Place the forefinger of one hand into the jar of hot water, and the forefinger of your other hand into the jar of cold water. Leave them there for a few minutes.

3. Now take both fingers out, and immediately put them into the third jar. What are your fingers telling you about the temperature of the water? Are they saying the same thing?

Get Your Child An Experiment Kit! 

Warning : Choking Hazard and Not suitable for Children Under 3 Years!

Product Features

Over 24 experiments that will help your child understand Newton's Laws of Motion.

Includes 24 Experiments and Projects

Major awards include Dr. Toy and Creative Child Magazine Award

Manual Written by Penny Norman, Ph.D. and Edited By Ann Einstein

ScienceWiz Physics Experiment Kit and Book 24 Experiments, Motion

ScienceWiz Physics Experiment Kit and Book 24 Experiments, Motion

From the Manufacturer

Based on a favorite ScienceWiz summer camp this 40 page book and materials will teach your child how to launch bottle rockets, perform magic tricks with inertia, stay in motion with a floating air puck, build your own spring meter, spin and circle with centripetal forces, build and balance a balance scale and clock your speed and accelerate, accelerate! Step-by-step 3D directions and the use of everyday materials brings clarity to how things work.

Product Description

Through rocketry and a classic collection of favorite projects, this kit and book explores the central concepts of physics. A hands-on adventure through Newton's Laws of Motion! Ages 7-14.

Customer Review

P Dunn - "My son has gotten every one of the kits from this company and he loves them!! Great learning tools."

Release Date: 06/15/2006

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Can You Believe Your Eyes? 

Two eyes are better than one

When we use both our eyes, we have a kind of sight called stereoscopic vision. Because both eyes are at the front, they both see the same object. But your eyes are a little way apart from each other, so they each have a slightly different view of things. You can check this if you place two objects, such as drinking glasses, on a table in front of you. Place one about 20 centimetres away from you, the other 60 centimetres away. Put your chin on the table with the two glasses straight ahead of you. Close one eye, then the other. Do you see exactly the same thing with both eyes?

Your brain makes use of the fact that your eyes tell different stories. By comparing the messages from each eye, it works out how far away an object is. Your brain does this in a split second every time you look at anything.

EXPERIMENT #4 - TWO EYES ARE BETTER THAN ONE

Why are our eyes on the front of our head and both looking the same way? It seems a waste of an eye, doesn't it? To discover the answer, play this game of throwing and catching a ball with a friend.

Things you will need:

1. Stiff black paper or cloth
2. Scissors
3. A sharp pencil
4. A ball
5. Thin elastic or ribbon

Instructions:

1. Cut out an eyepatch from the paper or cloth. Using the pencil point, make a small hole on either side of the patch. Thread through the elastic or ribbon.

2. Play at catching the ball with both eyes first. Throw the bal 20 times and make a record of how often you drop a catch.

3. Now cover one eye with your patch. Keep a record for another 20 catches. Did you do as well?

Your Brain Sorts It Out 

Watch your brain at work

Your brain is the most remarkable organ in your body! It sends out and receives hundreds of messages every second of your life. Your brain controls your muscles, sense organs, temperature - even your appetite! Your brain is also the place where you do your thinking and remembering.

Your brain plays a very important part in your body's co-ordination. It controls the messages from your muscles and sense organs. When you stand on your toes, your brain receives messages from your eyes, ears and joints about the position of your body. At the same time, your brain tells your muscles what to do to keep your body balanced.

EXPERIMENT #5- WATCH YOUR BRAIN AT WORK!

All you need for this experiment is a narrow cardboard tube, or a sheet of paper rolled up to make a tube.

Instructions:

1. Look out of the window and hold the tube to your right eye. Close your left eye to check what your right eye is seeing. Now open both eyes. What can you see? The left eye is seeing the whole scene, and the right eye is seeing only a tiny part of it.

2. Stil with both eyes open, hold your left hand up in front of you. Slowly bring it across, towards the tube of paper, until it covers the view from the tube. At a certain point, you should see your left hand with a hole in the middle of the palm. What can you see through the hole?

3. Still holding the tube to your eye, hold a finger up in front of it. Is there a hole in your finger? Can you explain the difference?

Mind Trick / Brain Teaser 

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Try Out This Really Slick Cell Puzzle! 

Test how good you are at assembling things...

This cell puzzle is made from New Zealand native timber. The main objective is to dismantle the pieces and reassemble them back into the original shape. These types of puzzles prove beneficial in the growth of a child's brain and help them in identifying and integrating differents shapes in the best way possible.

Buy Cell Puzzle now!

Price : $17.00

Grow Your Own Crystals 

Grow Crystals

EXPERIMENT #6

You can grow some crystals for yourself by adding washing soda to a jar of hot water. After a few days in a warm room, the crystals will begin to grow.

Things you will need:

1. String
2. A teaspoon
3. Hot water
4. A papeclip
5. A pencil
6. Washing soda crystals
7. Two glass jars
8 A small bowl

Instructions:

1. Put the teaspoon into the jar and fill up the jar with hot water.

2. Add a few teaspoons of washing soda to the water and stir the mixture. Add some more washing soda and stir the mixture again.

3. Fill the bowl with hot water and stand the jar in it. Keep on adding more soda to the jar and keep stirring until the soda stops dissolving in the water. Allow the liquid to cool and pour it into the second jar.

4. Tie a paperclip to one end of the string. Tie the other end across the pencil. Place the pencil across the top of the jar so that the paperclip hangs in the water. After a few days you will have a large lump of cyrstals.

Grow Crystals Video 

Another experiment you can try

Grow your own crystals
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The Ultimate Crystal Growing Science Kit 

Not Suitable For Children Under 3 Years

Product Features

This kit has 15 different crystal growing activities

Grow geodes and grow giant crystals

Grow crystals quickly - See spectacular results with in a 2 - 3 days

This fun kit makes geology exciting and accessible to kids

The crystal experiments in this kit make great projects for science fairs
Scientific Explorer's Ultimate Crystal Growing Science Kit

Scientific Explorer's Ultimate Crystal Growing Science Kit

From The Manufacturer

With an assortment of crystal growing activities, the Ultimate Crystal Kit has more crystals for you to grow than any other kit! You'll learn all about crystals and grow every type of crystal imaginable, including giant gems, glowing geodes, and an entire crystal garden.

Product Description

With 15 crystal growing activities, the Ultimate Crystal Kit has more crystals for you to grow than any other kit! You'll learn all about the various forms crystals take, and then grow any type of crystal imaginable, including giant gems, glowing geodes, and an entire crystal garden.

Customer Reviews

Diane - "I got this for my 8 year old grandson who is a real science 'explorer' and he just loved it. He was into the kit and growing crystals before you could say Jack Robinson. (Okay, that's an old saying!) He loved that there were so many to grow and all the varieties kept him interested."

Santa Mommy - "Although some of the experiments take time to see the results, it's been fun doing them with my son. He is 11 years old and VERY MUCH into science this year. One of his interests is crystals. Fortunately, this kit comes with a few VERY FAST immediate result experiments that were fun to do."

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Instruments For Forecasting The Weather 

Make Your Own Hygrometer

Meteorologists measure the speed of the wind with an anemometer, and the amount of moisture with a hygrometer. These instruments are used in weather stations on the ground, or in aircraft, ships and weather balloons. Meteorologists use the information from these instruments to forecast what the weather is going to be like.

EXPERIMENT #7 - HOW MUCH MOISTURE IS THERE IN THE AIR?

You can make your own hygrometer. Keep a chart of your results every day for three weeks. Can you forecast whether it will be wet or dry during the fourth week?

Things you will need:

1. A Pencil
2. A ruler
3. A piece of thin card, 16 cm x 4 cm
4. A piece of stiff card, 24 cm x 30 cm
5. A pair of scissors
6. Sticky tape
7. A strand of hair, about 25 cm long
8. A piece of wood, 24 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm
9. Six drawing pins
10. A coloured pen with a fine point

Instructions:

1. Using the ruler, draw an arrow about 12 centimetres by 2 centimetres on the thin card. Cut out the card arrow.

2. Stick one end of the strand of hair to the top of the cliff card.

3. Using drawing pins, attach the stiff card to the long edge of the piece of wood

4. Attach the free end of the hair to the back of the arrow head.

5. Place the arrow against the card and move it until the hair is stretched out fully. Then attach the other end of the arrow to the card with a drawing pin

6. Stand the hygrometer outside. Make sure that it can't fall over. When the Sun is shining, mark on the card where the arrow is pointing. Write 'dry' by the side of this mark. When the weather is damp, the arrow will point lower. Mark its new position and write 'damp' on the card.

On a damp day, the strand of hair will absorb moisture from the air. This will make the hair stretch and so the arrow points lower. On dry, sunny days the hair dries out and becomes shorter.

Hygrometer Posts 

Know More

Would this work to "calibrate" a cheap $3 walmart hygrometer?
- sansa.
Hygrometer accuracy - Friends of Habanos | Unofficial Habanos ...
(I love that line) I put all three hygrometers in my active humidor and now have 3 different readings 63%, 67% and 68%. I have tried to maintain 67% since day one, but now I am questioning the accuracy of these little machines. ...
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Learning Resources Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart 

Learning Resources Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart

Learning Resources Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart

From the Manufacturer

Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart is sturdy, vinyl pocket chart will makes a visually appealing introduction to weather. This includes pre-printed, double-sided cards for dates, days of the week, months, years, yesterday, today, tomorrow, holidays.

Product Description

This sturdy, vinyl pocket chart will makes a visually appealing introduction to weather. Includes pre-printed, double-sided cards for dates, days of the week, months, years, yesterday, today, tomorrow, holidays and celebrations, weather conditions and seasons136 heavy-duty cards in all!

Customer Reviews

Heather - "I am a kindergarten teacher and this calenday is absolutely wonderful. It comes with all of the calendar items you would need and the numbers are two sided black and red for easy patterning. I would highly reccomend."

Andrea - "I'm a homeschooling mom with young children and I love this calendar. It is quite large and extremely sturdy. It incorporates all the learning skills (days of the week, months of the year, weather, holidays, seasons) I'm teaching my little ones. This calendar is a great investment that will be used for many years to come!"

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How Sun Shines 

Try this simple experiment out

Energy from the Sun warms the ground, and some of this heat is reflected back to the air. As the warm air rises, it cools down. Places that are high above sea-level, such as mountains, have cooler climates than places lower down.

Energy from the Sun warms the oceans, rivers and lakes, turning some of the water into vapour. This vapour rises to form clouds, and then falls back to Earth as rain, sleet, hail or snow. So places near the coast have wetter climates than places island.

EXPERIMENT #8

Things you will need:

1. A small ball
2. A torch

Instructions:

1. Hold the ball in one hand. Shine the torch beam directly onto the middle of the ball. The circle of bright light at the centre of the ball is similar to the Sun's rays shining at the Equator.

2. Now look at how the light is shining at the bottom of the ball. It is spread over a much wider area and is very dull right at the bottom. This shows how the Sun shines in the polar regions.

P.S : If you're interested in the Solar Sytem, check out this really fantastic video on the anatomy of a black hole.

Why Does The Sun Shine? 

Learn through a song...

An interesting and fun video.
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Why Does the Sun Shine? 

Get the CD!

Learned from a 1959 children's educational record, the title track of the four-song Why Does The Sun Shine? is a little science lesson that's (literally) textbook TMBG--half ridiculously geeky, half ridiculously tuneful, and a longtime favorite of their live sets in a much more rocked-up version. -- Douglas Wolk
Why Does the Sun Shine?

Why Does the Sun Shine?

List Price: $6.98

Customer Reviews

"You only get these TMBG songs on this stand-alone single, and it's worth it. "The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescant Gas" is a great semi-childish song that features that educational ego that they have only done previously with "Mammal". The remake of the Almond Brother's "Jessica" is decent, but the backdrop remake of the Meat Puppets' "Whirlpool" is great, done with echoing horns. The alternate version of "Spy" is, in my opinion, better than the version on "John Henry". Get a great single and learn about how the Sun is a mass of incandescent gas...at the same time." - Robertson

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Fresh Air? 

Test the air

How fresh is the air where you live? If you live in the countryside, it is probably clean and fresh. We need air to breathe. Fresh air contains oxygen which we need to live. Although there are small amounts of other gases in the air, these are harmless to us.

But near our towns and cities, the air contains many other substances which can harm us. We make most of these harmful substances ourselves. One of these is sulphur dioxide, which comes from burning some types of coal, and oil. Power stations and factories burn coal and oil to produce the energy we use. Other gases and chemicals escape from the factory chimneys and pollute the air.

EXPERIMENT #9 - TEST THE AIR

Make an air filter to catch small particles of waste material in the air.

Thing you will need:

1. A paper tissue
2. An elastic band
3. A microscope or magnifying glass

Instructions:

1. Take an empty glass jar and fix a slightly damp paper tissue over the top with an elastic band.

2. Go outside and stand the jar up in the wind in an open space.

3. Leave it there for a day. Then bring it indoors and examine the tissue with a microscope or a magnifying glass.

The tissue will have collected various bits and pieces of material. Some, like pollen from flowers, will be natural. Others, like particles of soot, will be artificial waste products.

Try the experiment again when it's raining and see what happens this time around.

The Dirty Oceans 

Cleaning up the water

You probably think our oceans are so huge that they could never become badly polluted. Unfortunately, this is not the case. A river may make a long journey, but at the end of its journey it will dump all its pollution into the sea. This pollution can kill or drive away all the sea creatures that live near rivers and coasts. The sea is polluted in other ways. Far out at sea, ships carry rubbish and waste materials from factories. The ships dump their poisonous cargoes on the ocean floor. Plastics which do not break down are dumped at sea.

EXPERIMENT #10 - CLEANING UP THE WATER

Oil spills are often broken up using detergents. Try this for yourself.

Things you will need:

1. Some oil
2. Household detergent

Instructions:

1. Add a few drops of oil to the jar of water. Put on the lid and give the jar a shake. Has the oil mixed with the water?

2. Now add a few drops of detergent to the jar. Put the lid back on and shake the jar well. What has happened to the oil?

Toys That Your Kids Will Love.. 

Ocean Related

Fisher Price Imaginext Ocean Boat

Fisher Price Imaginext Ocean Boat

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Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Musical Fishbowl

Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Musical Fishbowl

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Ocean Wonders Fishbowl

Ocean Wonders Fishbowl

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Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse - Pink

Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse - Pink

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Ocean 240 pc puzzle ball

Ocean 240 pc puzzle ball

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Recycling 

Recycling Paper

When you recycle materials you are helping conservation in three ways.

1. You are helping to keep down damage caused to the environment by cutting down trees or by mining for raw materials.
2. You are helping to save energy.
3. You are also helping to cut down the problems of waste disposal.

EXPERIMENT #11 - RECYCLING PAPER

Paper is quite easy to recycle. Try to do it yourself.

Things you will need:

1. Some used paper
2. A cloth
3. A fork
4. Some water
5. A saucepan
6. A large bowl
7. A flat bottomed sieve

Instructions:

1. Tear the paper into small pieces and put them into a saucepan. Fill the saucepan half-full of water. Leave the paper to soak overnight.

2. If the paper has soaked up all the water, add some more. Mash the soggy paper with a fork until it has broken up into a mushy pulp.

3. Half-fill the bowl with water and add two handfuls of paper pulp. Stir the mixture well. Put a damp cloth beside the cloth.

4. Dip your sieve under the water and bring it to the surface. Hold it above the bowl until most of the water has drained away.

5. Turn the sieve upside down on the damp cloth and rock the sieve gently back and forth until the paper pulp peels away.

6. Spread the pulp as thinly and as evenly as possible over the cloth. Leave the pulp in an airy place to dry.

Paper Recycling Kit 

National Geographic™ Paper Recycling Kit

National Geographic™ Paper Recycling Kit

Have fun and recycling too! With your Paper Maker Recycling Set, you can create your own personalized stationery, greeting cards, art projects, and more. You'll recycle used paper, so you 'll be helping the environment, too. Includes easy instructions and fascinating facts about papermaking and recycling.

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Science For Kids 

Prize-Winning Science Fair Projects for Curious Kids

Prize-Winning Science Fair Projects for Curious Kids

by: Joe Rhatigan, Rain Newcomb

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Used Price: $4.22

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The String Telephone 

Make A Telephone

A string telephone does not need electricity to make it work. It works by changing the sound of your voice into vibrations, which travel along the string. When they reach the other end, the vibrations are changed back into sound again.

EXPERIMENT #12 - OVER AND OUT

When you are using the string telephone, you will have to work out a way of telling the person at the other end when to listen and when to speak. One way is to copy the system that radio operators use. When you have finished speaking and are ready for an answer, you say 'Over'. This is the signal for the person at the other end to speak. When you come to the end of the conversation, you say 'Out'.

If there are three of you, you can make a third string telephone and use it as an extension. Tie the string to the first line in a convenient place.

Things you will need:

1. Three empty plastic pots or cups
2. A ball of thin, strong string
3. Scissors
4. A Pencil

Instructions:

1. Use a pencil to make a small hole in the end of each plastic pot. Thread an end of the string though.

2. Tie a knot on the inside to keep it in place. The plastic pot acts as both the mouthpiece and the earpiece.

3. If you make sure that the string is stretched tight, you can use the string telephone to talk to someone in another part of the room.

The string must be kept tight. If the string is loose, the vibrations from your voice are lost into the air. If it is tight, they cannot escape easily and so move down the string to the other end.

Children's Learning & Development Toys: Wooden Telephone 

Great for Waldorf & Montessori

Children's Learning & Development Toys: Wooden Telephone (great for Waldorf & Montessori) Play Phone

Children's Learning & Development Toys: Wooden Telephone (great for Waldorf & Montessori) Play Phone

This quality toy is produced with chemical-free rubber wood. These rubber wood trees are at least 25 years old, and thus have stopped producing latex.

Rubber wood farmers traditionally fell these trees and burn them to produce charcoal, in order to clear the land for replanting. With this new earth friendly process, the wood is now used to produce this beautiful wooden toy.

The wood is kiln-dried to avoid bacteria and pest infestation, thus making the rubber wood naturally preservative free and safe for children. Made and imported from Vietnam, this is not a mass-produced item from China!

Get your little one engaged in hours of "constructive" play, no batteries needed, just your own childs imagination! This quality wooden telephone is just like the one of mum & dad, only made of wood. Please note that we sell the new version with red letters & numbers (instead of black as pictured). Phone measures 12" x 3" x 3". Ages 3 & up.

Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 12/16/2009) Buy Now

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Insulation 

Testing insulating materials

Most buildings are used as shelters. The people inside need to feel comfortable, whatever the temperature outside. So heat must be trapped inside or kept out. This is done by insulation.

EXPERIMENT #13 - TESTING INSULATING MATERIALS

What sort of materials provide the best insulation? You can try this experiment to find out.

Things you will need:

1. Some warm water cool enough to put your hand in
2. Six rubber bands
3. A newspaper
4. Cotton wool
5. A cloth
6. Four glass jars
7. Four card lids to cover the jars

Instructions:

1. Stand the jars in a row on the table. Wrap the first jar with a layer of newspaper. Wrap the second jar with a layer of loose cotton wool and the third with a layer of cloth. Hold the layers of insulation on with two rubber bands each.

2. Leave the fourth jar unwrapped.

3. Fill each jar with warm water and cover with the lids.

4. Every ten minutes, lift each lid and feel how warm the water is in each jar. If you have a thermometre at home, you could use it to measure the temperature of the water.

5. Which jar stays warm the longest? Which material works best? You should find that it is the layer of cotton wool. This is because cotton wool traps the most air.

The Strength Of A Dome 

How strong is a dome?

Have you ever turned the empty shell of a boiled egg upside down in the egg-cup and tried to break it with a spoon? It is surprising to find how much force you need. This is because the dome shape of the shell has great strength. The tension caused by the knock of your spoon is carried down the sides of the shell and into the egg-cup. It is spread down the sloping sides of the structure.

Dome-shapes roofs are strong in exactly the same way. Architects have used them in buildings for many years. Two famous buildings, the Taj Mahal in India and the Capitol in the United States of America, both have domes.

EXPERIMENT #14 - HOW STRONG IS A DOME?

You can see how strong eggshells are with this experiment:

Things you will need:

1. Four empty eggshells
2. A small pair of scissors
3. Masking tape
4. Some books all about the same size

Instructions:

1. Put a piece of masking tape around the middle of the eggshell. This will prevent the eggshell from cracking when you cut it.

2. Carefully cut down the eggshell through the masking tape, so that you have four eggshell halves with even bottoms.

3. Put the eggshells on the table, dome up, in a rectangle that is just a bit smaller than one of your books.

4. Put a book on the eggshells. Keep adding books until the eggshells crack. How many books can they support?

Keep Out The Damp! 

Everyone wants to live in a place that is dry. No one wants to stay in a building that is damp.

Dampness in a building is caused in three ways. Moisture can creep up from the ground, through the floor and walls. Rain or snow can come through the roof.

Moisture is also produced inside the building. Water vapour or steam is released when people heat liquids for cooking, and when people breathe out. If the air does not circulate properly through the building, the moisture builds up inside and makes the walls damp.

EXPERIMENT #15 - Rising Damp

Damp that comes up into a building from the ground is called rising damp. Try this experiment to see how water rises up through sand.

Things that you will need:

1. A glass tumbler full of dry sand or soil
2. Water
3. A shallow dish
4. A jug

Instructions:

1. Put the dish upside down on top of the tumbler full of sand

2. Now hold them tightly together and turn them upside down. Add about two centimetres of water to the dish.

3. Look at the sand through the glass every five minutes. The water soaks steadily highly up the sand. You can see this because wet sand is darker than dry sand.

The Smallest Living Thing 

Make a model of an animal cell

Do you know what your body is made of? It's made of skin, bone, blood, muscles and fat. But what are these made of? All the different parts of your body are made up of tiny living things called cells.

All plants and animals and other living things are made up of cells. Some very small forms of life are made up of just one cell.

Cells are the building blocks of life. All living things are made up from at least one cell.

EXPERIMENT #16 - MAKE A MODEL OF AN ANIMAL CELL

Things that you will need:

1. Water
2. A small, solid, plastic ball
3. A small plastic bag
4. Scissors
5. Some gelatine

Instructions:

1. Ask an adult to help you dissolve the gelatine in some hot water. Add enough warm water to make a jelly that wil set. Leave the jelly to cool for a few minutes.

2. Pour half of the jelly into the plastic bag. Keep the rest of the jelly warm, while the jelly in the plastic bag sets. It wil set more quickly in a cool place.

3. When the jelly in the bag is partly set, put in the plastic ball. Then add the rest of the jelly. Tie a knot in the bag to seal it and trim off the ends.

This is roughly the shape of an animal cell. The plastic bag is like the membrane. The plastic ball is like the nucleus, and the jelly represents the cytoplasm.

More Related Pages :

How to Build 3D Models of Animal and Plant Cells

Science NetLinks: Cells 1: Make a Model Cell

The Invisible Force 

Magnetism passing through

Magnets can attract magnetic metals even if you place a barrier, like a piece of paper, in between the magnet and the metal. Paper, cloth, glass, plastic and some metals, such as aluminium and copper, are non-magnetic.

A magnet will not attract things made of these materials, but magnetism can pass through paper and some other substances to attract magnetic metals on the other side.

EXPERIMENT #17 - MAGNETISM PASSING THROUGH

Try an experiment to find out which materials magnetism can pass through.

Things you will need:

1. Some metal paperclips
2. A piece of paper
3. A piece of cloth
4. Some aluminium foil
5. A magnet
6. A glass jar
7. Several metal cans

Instructions:

1. Put some paperclips inside a glass jar. Using a magnet on the outside of the jar, can you slide the paperclips up the inside? Yes, you can! Your magnet will attract the paperclips inside the jar, because magnetism passes through glass.

2. Now try the same experiment with a small metal can. If the can is made with magnetic metal, such as iron or steel, the magnet will atract the can but not the paperclips. The magnet will stick to the can, but the magnetism doesn't pass through the metal to the paperclips.

3. Try the experiment again with a can made of non-magnetic metal, such as aluminium. Magnetism passes through aluminium, so you can use the magnet to move the paperclips inside the can.

4. Try wrapping your magnet in different materials, such as paper, cloth or aluminium foil. Can you pick up paperclips with the wrapped magnet?

Sound Energy 

Does sound energy move?

Have you ever heard a jet aeroplane when it is getting ready to take off? The noise that the plane makes is sometimes so loud that your ears begin to hurt.

Sound is a type of energy. Sounds are produced when an object vibrates. When this happens, the air around the object also vibrates. These vibrations in the air travel as sound waves. The sound waves move sound energy from one place to another. A jet engine makes a great deal of sound energy. The engine sounds loud when it is close, but you can sometimes hear the noise when the plane is several kilometres away from you.

EXPERIMENT #18 - DOES SOUND ENERGY MOVE ?

Here is an experiment that you can do to prove that sound energy moves through the air.

Things you will need:

1. A piece of clear plastic film
2. A rubber band
3. A spoon
4. Some rice grains
5. An empty glass jar
6. A tin tray

Instructions:

1. Stretch the plastic tightly over the open end of the jar. Use the rubber band to keep the plastic in position.

2. Sprinkle a few rice grains over the plastic.

3. Hold the tin tray close to the jar and bang it with the spoon. You will see the rice grains dance about on the pastic. This shows that the sound energy from the tray has travelled through the air, making the rice grains move.

Collecting Land Invertebrates 

Looking at soil animals

Pick up a handful of soil from the ground. Can you see anything moving around in it?

In that handful of soil there are hundreds of living things. Most of them are tiny bacteria and fungi - living things that are too small to see without a microscope. Can you see some small invertebrate animals crawling about in the soil? These invertebrates feed on the bacteria and fungi, and then larger animals feed on them.

EXPERIMENT #19 - LOOKING AT SOIL ANIMALS

Things you will need:

1. Fresh soil
2. A small bucket
3. White paper
4. A notebook and pencil
5. A fine sieve
6. A magnifying glass
7. A plastic bottle
8. A glass jar
9. A desk lamp

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Collect some soil in the bucket. You will find lots of different kinds of invertebrates if you take the soil from among the dead leaves underneath a tree.

2. Shake a few handfuls of soil through the sieve onto the white paper. Use the magnifying glass to look closely at the animals that fall through and run across the paper.

3. Now make a funnel to collect some of the small creatures from the soil. Ask an adult to help you cut the bottom off a plastic bottle. Hold the bottle upside down over a glass jar.

4. Put some dead leaves and soil into the bottle, and hold it under a lamp. The animals will move away from the heat and light of the lamp and fall into the jar.

Draw the animals you have seen in your notebook, and try to find out what they are from a reference book.

Solar Power 

A solar panel at work

More energy reaches Earth from the Sun than could be converted by millions of power stations. The Sun's energy costs nothing, but how can we use it?

We can use the Sun's energy to heat the water in our homes. One way this can be done is with a solar panel. This is a glass topped box fixed to the roof of a building facing the Sun.

The inside of the box is painted black. Black is best at taking in, or absorbing heat. Water flows through pipes inside the box. During daylight, this water is heated by the Sun's energy.

EXPERIMENT #20 - A SOLAR PANEL AT WORK

You can see how a solar panel works by making your own. Do this on a bright, sunny day.

Things you will need:

1. A sheet of clear plastic or glass
2. Water
3. A thermometer
4. A baking tray with black insides

Instructions:

1. Fill the baking tray with cold water one centimetre deep. Use the thermometre to find out the water temperature. If you don't have one, test the water with your finger.

2. Place the glass or plastic over the tray. Leave it in the sunshine for an hour. If you do not have a black baking tray, you can line your tray with black plastic.

3. Take the lid off the tray and put the thermometre or your finger back in the water. You will find the water is warmer than before.

More Useful Pages on Solar Power :

Solar Power

Solar Energy Advantages Disadvantages and Solar Power information

Solar Power Experiments 

Some More To Try

Solar Power Experiment
To help understand the power of the Sun conduct this experiment on solar energy.
Students Experiment With Solar Power - Video - Wired
Using a set of rotating mirrors, students in the Extreme Science Project at the Latino College Preparatory Academy designed a system that concentrates sunlight onto a solar panel, which could increase its efficiency by a factor of 10.

Solar Power Science Kit 

For ages 10 and above

150 Challenging Experiments. Convert solar energy. Build a solar electric generator, motor, water heater, furnace, thermometer, crane and solar energy mobiles. Unique experiments with colour optics, electroplating, stroboscopes, thermodynamics and Moire patterns.

Tree of Knowledge Solar Power Science Kit

Tree of Knowledge Solar Power Science Kit

Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 12/15/2009) Buy Now
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Solar Energy Kits 

Here are some of the best solar energy kits available online...
Educational Science Kit

Educational Science Kit "Solar Energy Kit" Discover Green Energy!

Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 12/15/2009) Buy Now

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Go Lab Solar Energy Kit

Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 12/15/2009) Buy Now

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Elenco Solar Deluxe Educational Kit

Amazon Price: $15.04 (as of 12/15/2009) Buy Now

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New! - Christmas/New Year Educational Gifts For Your Child 

Surprise your kids this Christmas or New Year with these educational toys....



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The City Transportation Table is great for children because they are endlessly entertained as they move the cars and boats to get around the busy city. Twelve wooden figures include boats, a school bus, ice cream truck, fire engine, ambulance, garbage truck, mail truck, taxi, police car, and city bus. While children guide the cars along the paths and through the roadways to get to their various destinations, eye-hand coordination, visual tracking, and sensor & motor skills are challenged. Kids experience the excitement of city life while playing with this table! Dimensions: 24"x 24"x 16"

 



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